OVERVIEW: The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation awards grants to small and mid-sized arts groups, projects and organizations across all disciplines. It also supports activist artists and arts organizations working for social change and to protect the environment.
IP TAKE: Rauschenberg prioritizes smaller organizations, making it an excellent resource for local arts companies. Grantseekers whose mission combines art and social activism will have the best likelihood of success. Unfortunately, this is not an accessible grantmaker. As well, it’s not the most approachable, so be clear about your questions should you reach out. Grants here likely require nomination and networking to get on their radar.
PROFILE: The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation was created in 1990 by the artist Robert Rauschenberg to foster his philanthropic and artistic legacies. Its grant programs “aspire to a vibrant, equitable and sustainable world through the power of creative problem solving.” Rauschenberg worked in a wide range of subjects, styles, materials, and techniques, and he believed in the concept of artist as social activist. The foundation supports five grantmaking programs: Art + Education, Art + Environment, Artist as Activist, Regional grants, and Seed. The foundation also has an Emergency Grants program.
Grants for Visual Arts, Dance, Music, Theater, Film, and Creative Writing
The Robert Rauschenberg Foundation firmly believes in using the arts as a mechanism for effecting social change. Its Artist as Activist fellowship supports Individual Artists with a two-year grant designed to support the growing body of independent artists who are leveraging art in service of larger social purposes. Selected applicants will receive up to $100,000, with Travel and Research grants being offered from anywhere between $2,500 and $10,000. The Artist as Activist program also supports organizations with “$20,000 in unrestricted funds to recognize their important contributions to this ecosystem overall, and in particular their pioneering roles in facilitating artistic work that intersects with activism and social responsibility.” Arts organizations who have received funding include Alternate ROOTS, National Performance Network , Project Row Houses, Creative Time, and The Laundromat Project.
Rauschenberg’s SEED grantmaking program “is a combination of risk capital and value-added support to early stage, groundbreaking projects.” Grants are awarded to small to mid-sized arts organizations in their early operational stages. In this area, Rauschenberg seeks to help new groups expand and build capacity. While grant amounts can vary widely, most fall in the $10,000 to $50,000 range. SEED grants are limited to arts organizations in Atlanta, Boise, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit, Kansas City, Phoenix, Portland, New Orleans, Eastern Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia, Houston and Santa Fe. Grantseekers can find a list of past SEED grantees organization by geographic location here.
The foundation also has an Emergency Grants program that supports both individual artists and arts organizations. Past grantees through this program include World Central Kitchen, Culture Push, Movement for Black Lives, and Arab Image Foundation, which received “emergency funds to assist with recovery of the Arab Image Foundation collection, the largest photographic archives in the Middle East, that was devastated by the August 2020 explosion in Beirut’s port.”
All of Rauschenberg’s grantmaking supports either individual artists or arts organizations in some capacity, including those programs that operate at the intersection of art and another funding area, such as Art + Education , which focuses on improving the quality of arts education, and Art + Environment, which works to “raise awareness about environmental causes.”
Grants for Arts Education
The Rauschenberg Foundation supports arts education through its Art + Education program, which invests in “schools, agencies, and organizations working to ensure a quality arts education for all students.” Past grantees include Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Lab School of Washington, Art21, Studio in a School, and George Washington University - Corcoran.
Grants for Climate Change
The foundation honors Robert Rauschenberg’s commitment to the environment and makes grants for climate change through its Art + Environment program. It works to “support effective methods for addressing climate change that leverage creativity and broad-based civic engagement.” Past grantees include Grist, Beautiful Trouble, Movement Generation, People's Collective Arts, and The Sundance Institute.
Important Grant Details:
Rauschenberg awards grants by invitation only and does not accept unsolicited proposals. Some areas of the foundation’s website are updated more frequently than others. Grantseekers will want to do careful research before contacting the foundation to introduce themselves. Grants made by invitation only are awarded at the foundation’s discretion.
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